The invention relates to an automatically controlled washing machine having a detergent dispensing unit arranged in the upper front side of the machine space, said detergent dispensing unit containing a drawer that is accessible from the front and has at least one compartment to allow a hand-measured addition of a portion of washing powder or washing liquid, having at least one storage container for liquid or gel-like washing aids which is mounted behind the compartments of the drawer in the upper machine space, and having one device each for the automatic dosing of each stored washing aid.
A washing machine of the aforesaid kind is known from DE 34 03 622 A1. Disposed therein in the retraction direction of a drawer behind motor-driven detergent compartments which are open at the top for filling with individual doses of washing powders or washing liquids and which can be flushed out from above by means of water jets, is a reservoir for liquid washing aids which has to be refilled after the reserve supply has been used up. For that purpose a filling opening is provided in the cover section of the reservoir. Each time the detergent drawer is moved into a position to allow filling of the compartments, a specific dose of the stored washing aid is conveyed by means of a mechanism mounted on the drawer and its housing from the reservoir into a dosing chamber, from where it can be transferred by means of water into the tub of the washing machine during execution of a subsequent wash program.
Although such a storage facility in itself means a considerable lightening of the customer's workload in terms of the replenishment of washing aids, the occasionally necessary refilling of the reservoir is tedious nonetheless, especially since the filling opening of the reservoir should not be arbitrarily large in size because of the risk of washing aid slopping over during the movement of the drawer. The difficulty of refilling might also lead more often to the spilling of washing aid, resulting in the latter coagulating or becoming encrusted on the drawer and then making the drawer stiff and difficult to move. Frequent cleaning of the known drawers is therefore essential. Swapping washing aids before the reservoir is completely emptied is also not possible.
DE 201 15 173 U1 discloses dispensing containers for a program-controlled dishwasher or washing machine which are provided with a machine-readable data medium, a barcode label for example. The dispensing containers can be installed in a designated receiving slot in the appliance, but no details are given on the precise position of the containers.
DE 25 54 592 discloses an automatic washing machine having active washing substance containers which are arranged in a replaceable manner in the machine housing. However, no further information is given concerning the precise arrangement.